Interview: Jaime Lozano & The Familia To Play Joe's Pub And Lincoln Center

Delightful Jaime Lozano is one of the leaders in Latinx entertainment in the club and concert industry. The musical theater composer has his eye on Broadway but until he gets to the Big Street, Lozano is happy to compose musicals for smaller venues, song cycles for CDs, and songs for performances in cabarets, clubs, and concert halls. Working with an artists collective called The Familia that brings together his family of friends from the show business community, Jaime Lozano is continually on the move, making opportunities for his tribe and putting the Latin story on stage.

With two shows coming up at Joe's Pub (March 28th) and Lincoln Center (April 15th), Mr. Lozano is elbow deep in rehearsals, but it didn't keep him from joining Broadway World for a chat about DESAPARECIDAS, SONGS BY AN IMMIGRANT, and all the parts of his life that drive him to create.

This interview was conducted digitally and is reproduced with minor punctuation and spelling edits, though Mr. Lozano's pattern has not been changed, in an effort to preserve his charming manner of speaking and writing in English.

Hola, Jaime Lozano, welcome to Broadway World!

Hola Stephen. Thanks a lot for having me. I am really grateful for all the love and support. As you know I think La Familia is not only myself and my performers but also all our community and you are a very important part of this Familia and community. Gracias for helping us amplify our voices.

How's the family? Everyone here and back in Mexico doing well?

Everyone is doing great. Thanks for asking. Here we are juggling a lot, with a lot of projects and I'm also very busy being a father, a husband and at the same time trying to keep writing and telling our stories. And I am also very happy that I am gonna be able to see my family in Mexico in a few months. We are gonna have a couple of concerts there: one in Monterrey, my hometown, on May 27th, and a couple of concerts in Mexico City on June 7th and 8th. Very excited to be there, see the family, hug them, eat tacos and share our songs and stories in español with our people.

You have been really busy lately, and you have two big nights coming up, one at Joe's Pub and your Lincoln Center debut. Are you feeling overwhelmed or calm?

I am so grateful that we have a lot going on. You know, I am a very weird mix of both things. Overwhelmed and calm, hahahaha. Not only now but in my daily life. I am multitasking or said in a better way, I have a lot of problems focusing and concentrating. I can't focus on only one thing at a time. I am always working on four or five projects at the time and spending twenty minutes writing a song for one of those and then a half an hour in another project and then back, and besides that my son Alonzo wants me to play with him the whole time, etc. So I am always juggling. So, my routine is very busy and overwhelming the whole time but I think one of my virtues is that I am the most patient human being in the world (or I play to be like that) so you are always gonna see me calm and positive. No matter what.

Let's start with DESAPARECIDAS - this is a project for which you are providing music, with the lyrics being written by you and your wife, Florencia Cuenca. You frequently leave the lyrics to your collaborators, while you control the music, but this time you are participating in the construction of the words. What led to this decision?

To be completely honest with you, the only reason I don't write lyrics in English is because I have a lot of respect for stories and craft and I don't think my English is just there to be able to write lyrics. I am a lyricist in Spanish, I have been writing music and lyrics for a long long time, not as long as I would love because I actually started writing at age 19. For DESAPARECIDAS I knew from the beginning that I didn't want to write lyrics by myself because I am telling stories that don't belong to me, I needed the female perspective and voice, so I am just being an ally among many women collaborating on this project. My wife Florencia is an amazing storyteller, not only as a performer/singer/actor but as a director and writer, so I am just following her lead. We are so good at creating together, we could be doing this 24/7, wait... we actually are. This is our life, putting ourselves and being honest telling stories, and for this very special project, I feel so grateful and honored to contribute and help to tell these stories that definitely need to be told and heard.

You and Florencia have created art together throughout your marriage but this is a particularly special project; was the creative dynamic any different this time around?

I don't think it is any different than other times. As I told you before, this is our life. The lines between husband and wife, collaborators, artists, composer, performer, etc are completely blurred. I don't know if this is something good or bad, hahaha. I'm not saying our work is taking over our life. It is more like we are a hundred percent everything. I am not half husband and half composer. I am a hundred percent husband and a hundred percent writer, and a hundred percent dad, we are all of that together at the same level. And that is the beauty of our lives.

Walk me through the creation of this work, from concept to concert.

We started working on this project two years ago. I had always wanted to write about this for a long time. Since I was living in Mexico but for some reason, it wasn't the right moment. Years later I met this amazing director, now a very good friend Rachel M. Stevens, and we were talking about the ideal project to collaborate. So this idea came back to me and I pitched it to her and Florencia. Right away we felt we were connecting. We got the support from The Civilians and started writing and developing the show as part of the R&D Group. During that time we wrote a bunch of songs, all based on interviews we did to women from Ciudad Juárez, the place where our play is set. The show is in big part an investigative theatre piece. We interviewed Florencia's grandma who was born and raised there. We actually have a character based in her life and story and named after her. After the amazing experience with The Civilians, we received a residency at JACK in Brooklyn, another wonderful theater organization, where we gathered a group of Mexican female performers and with the help of our director and co-conceiver Rachel M. Stevens and Mexican choreographer Gabriela García started expiriencing the movement of the piece. We have been very fortunate to have the support of these two important theatre organizations to keep developing the show and now with the support of Joe's Pub, we will be presenting a collection of songs for the very first time with an all-female band and cast.

This is not your first song cycle that centers around women. What has been the inspiration for all of the female-informed work that you create?

I grew up surrounded by women. My mother, and her sisters. They raised me up and educated me. My father, who I love, was not very present during that time because of very strong alcohol problems. So my love and admiration for my mom and aunts is what have always inspired my inclination for this stories but let me be clear with something, in my song cycle A Never-Ending Line, I didn't write a single word, all those smart and wonderful words and lyrics came from my 9 female lyricists. I didn't change a thing. I was only inspired by her words to set them to music in collaboration with them. And here I am following Rachel and Florencia's lead about that. These are not my stories. I want to be very respectful and honor the people that own those stories. I am trying to be the best ally I can. And you know what, I have been learning a lot. Of course I am very imperfect and I make a lot of mistakes, and I have realized myself doing or saying things in a wrong way and Florencia always talks to me and lets me know, the way you are saying this is not okay, this idea is not correct, and I am learning. In the end, besides being an artist I am a human being and I hope to be a better one after this process. And in general, after writing a song or writing a show I just hope that I can learn from every single process and collaboration and become a better person.

On April 15th, you will make your Lincoln Center debut with SONGS BY AN IMMIGRANT. This is a show that has played several nightclubs around Manhattan, but Lincoln Center takes it to another level. Are you making any changes to the program to celebrate the occasion?

Can you believe it? LINCOLN F... CENTER!!!! Never in my wildest dreams. This is really an honor and a very important step for our stories. As a Mexican immigrant artist, this has a very special meaning. We are working on a new album, "Songs by an Immigrant Vol. 2", so this concert will include new songs from this upcoming album. And new family members. An all Latinx/Latine line-up of performers that I am their biggest fan: Andréa Burns, Florencia Cuenca, Nicholas Edwards, Eden Espinosa, Javier Ignacio, Mauricio Martínez, Shereen Pimentel and Marina Pires. Also a full Latin band with the best musicians in NYC. I feel so proud of this Familia. It will be a night for the books. A great celebration of our culture and stories.

I know you to be a man who loves his emotions, who leans into them without fear. So, how are you feeling about the Lincoln Center event?

Oh, thanks for your kind words. Just last night I went with my wife to a concert of one of my favorite Latin artists: Juan Luis Guerra from República Dominicana. And while all the audience members were dancing merengue, I was crying my heart out, hahahaha, people were looking at me, I guess thinking, "what is wrong with this guy? Why is he crying like that?" Hahahahahaha. I'm feeling over the moon. Excited. Elevated. Over energetic. Loved. A bit scared. I still can't believe it. With the huge responsibility. But overall GRATEFUL, with capital letters. Grateful with God, the universe, Lincoln Center and its amazing team, my Familia, my family, the community, you...

You are the leading creative in Latin-based cabaret and concert programs in New York City. Do you ever feel any pressure from being the person driving that train, and what can other Latinx artists do to move the culture into the spotlight with more vehemence?

I am a passionate hard worker. I believe more in my heart than in my craft. I speak only for myself. I can't speak for others. I do everything from my heart and because I want to. I love what I do and that's why I do it. So I don't feel any pressure because I love telling stories, I love performing, I love collaborating with people. I am always open to meet, talk and collaborate with others. I am someone who likes reaching out to people even when they can seem unreachable. So I made a promise to myself that I am gonna be always there for others. Because the only way to make a change is through community and collaboration. It is our mission together. I can't do it alone. I am grateful for the people before me opening doors and the ones by my side. Hoping to be one of the many more to come and work together to tell our shouts. I want to make our community seen, heard, and be stronger.

Once these two shows are completed, will you and the family be taking a vacation? Or will you jump back into another project?

I wish we could have a vacation. We are going to Mexico, but because we're performing! We haven't had a vacation in the last 6 years. But I would like to say we are always on vacation, hahahaha. We enjoy traveling together to perform and get to know new people and places. So, no real vacation for now. I'm also opening a new show in DC on April 1st with my collaborator Migguel Anggelo, we're going there after our DESAPARECIDAS concert. Then going to Mexico. Back in June for a show I am having upstate at Forestburgh. More concerts in July at 54 Below and then Joe's Pub. And just enjoying it all the time. I love my life.

Jaime, thank you for visiting with Broadway World today, and good luck with both concerts!

Gracias a ti. Thanks again for your love and support. And I am here always for you my friend. Thanks for the amazing work you are doing to support our theatre, music and cabaret community. My gratitude and admiration to you.

DESAPARECIDAS plays Joe's Pub on March 28th at 7 pm. For information and tickets visit the Joe's Pub website HERE.

SONGS BY AN IMMIGRANT will play Lincoln Center on April 15th at 7:30 pm. For information and tickets visit the Lincoln Center website HERE.

HERE is the Jaime Lozano website.

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